You are here

Iowa » North » Cedar Falls » University of Northern Iowa

University of Northern Iowa

-A A +A
23rd and College streets

The University of Northern Iowa was founded in 1876 as the Iowa State Normal School. In 1909 it became the Iowa State Teachers College, and in 1967 it acquired its present name. With the exception of the much-remodeled president's cottage of 1890 (now the Ethnic Minorities Cultural and Educational Center), the major early buildings have disappeared. Of the older structures only the 100-foot-high Campanile (1926), in the “Italian Renaissance Style,” and the Beaux-Arts Seerley Hall convey a strong sense of continuity with the past. The older as well as the recent landscape design for the university has been well carried out, and with the maturing of the vegetation the varied and disparate architectural images and the scattering of sculpture and fountains may eventually coalesce into some sort of unified entity. The character of the campus as a whole is dominated by recent “modern” buildings, such as NO031.1 through NO031.5. More worthy of an architectural visit are several of the pre-World War II buildings, NO031.6 through NO031.9.

Writing Credits

Author: 
David Gebhard and Gerald Mansheim
×

Data

What's Nearby

Seerley Hall (Library)
Maucker Student Union
Baker Hall for Men
The Campanile
Barlett Hall

Citation

David Gebhard and Gerald Mansheim, "University of Northern Iowa", [Cedar Falls, Iowa], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/IA-01-NO031.

Print Source

Buildings of Iowa, David Gebhard and Gerald Mansheim. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993, 360-360.

If SAH Archipedia has been useful to you, please consider supporting it.

SAH Archipedia tells the story of the United States through its buildings, landscapes, and cities. This freely available resource empowers the public with authoritative knowledge that deepens their understanding and appreciation of the built environment. But the Society of Architectural Historians, which created SAH Archipedia with University of Virginia Press, needs your support to maintain the high-caliber research, writing, photography, cartography, editing, design, and programming that make SAH Archipedia a trusted online resource available to all who value the history of place, heritage tourism, and learning.

,